Review of Out of Sight (1998) by Will H — 04 Apr 2012

The work of Elmore Leonard has been adapted to film successfully quite often, such as in Quentin Tarantino's underrated Jackie Brown, and that trend continues in Out of Sight, this time directed by indie filmmaker Steven Soderbergh.

Out of Sight represented Soderbergh's transition from small independent pictures (which he has returned to more recently) to more commercial, mainstream fare, and he makes the transition successfully, with a few small hiccups.

Though the film is oozing with style, dark comedy, and a intriguingly sexy central romance, it feels like Soderbergh was struggling to find a voice of his own, outside of Leonard's previously established film canon.

Out of Sight ends up hewing a little too close for comfort to Tarantino's style, as the film itself feels like a mixture of the Tarantino-scripted True Romance (in the central relationship), his own Jackie Brown (from bringing in Samuel L.

Jackson and Michael Keaton, reprising his role as Ray Nicolette from Jackie Brown no less, in cameos, to the strong female protagonist and her dangerous relationship with a friend/enemy), and even some shades of Pulp Fiction (the nonlinear storyline, the presence of Ving Rhames, the trunk scene that not only evokes the second scene of the film but also involves a discussion about old films, and again, Jackson's cameo).

Much of this film's content has already been done somewhere else, and in a somewhat more refined and less haphazard way. Nevertheless, Soderbergh's direction borders on perfect, and is perfectly complemented by Scott Frank's sharp and witty script.

George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez have terrific chemistry in their lead roles, and also make quite an impression on their own, as career bank robber Jack Foley and US Marshal Karen Sisco. Rhames turns in arguably the most endearing performance of his career as robber-with-a-heart-of-gold Buddy Bragg, Don Cheadle's turn as Snoopy Miller works both in comedy and action, and the presence of veterans such as Dennis Farina, Albert Brooks, Steve Zahn, Luis Guzman, Catherine Keener, Nancy Allen, and the brief cameos of Keaton and Jackson don't hurt either.

David Holmes' score is appropriately snazzy, and Soderbergh's regular DP and editor each do their job on the leap to mainstream film. Despite my earlier complaints about lack of originality, Out of Sight is a quite a good, clever, and entertaining film.

I just think that Soderbergh would have done better to find his own vision, rather than stick to the stylings of Leonard's previous work.